If enough people openly engage in conduct once considered reprehensible, we rewrite the rule book and assume that God, as a good democrat, will go along.

Under the circumstances, may I suggest another means of encouraging probity in elective office. I refer to term limitations, which can serve ends beyond that of saving congressional souls.

What distinguishes the campaign finance issue from just about every other one being debated these days is that the two sides do not divide along conventional liberal/ conservative lines.

What people fail to appreciate is that the currency of corruption in elective office is, not money, but votes.

The kind of corruption the media talk about, the kind the Supreme Court was concerned about, involves the putative sale of votes in exchange for campaign contributions.

This source of corruption, alas, is inherent in the democratic system itself, and it can only be controlled, if at all, by finding ways to encourage legislators to subordinate ambition to principle.

I had hoped that the current presidential campaign debates might educate the public as to what is really involved in the ongoing controversy over campaign financing.

Given the difficulty of resisting such temptations over the longer run, a proper concern for the welfare of congressional souls may well be the ultimate argument in favor of term limitations.

In rendering its decision in our case, the Supreme Court equated money with speech because these days it takes the first to make yourself heard.

Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its stud

There are many things in this life one can plan for, anticipate, control, manipulate, but love is not one of them.

My father used to sing to me in my mother's womb. I think I can name about any tune in two beats.

I'm the chief science officer of a foundation that works on the application of regenerative medicine to the problem of aging.

Autobiography is mostly alibiography.

Any belief worth having must survive doubt

London is a very energising place to be.

Do what you love; you'll be better at it. It sounds pretty simple, but you'd be surprised how many people don't get this one right away.

From first to last, Jesus is the same; always the same--majestic and simple, infinitely severe and infinitely gentle.

The more you read about and immerse in a culture, the more it comes alive, and the more textured and nuanced and detailed and unstereotypable it becomes.